Living on own VS. Having wheels

[91TTZ]

Living in a VAN, down by the river FTW.

 

[Colt45]

rent a trailer, buy an old beater. thats 1 & 2. spend the change on liquor.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: Chadder007
I still live at home....but its a big house (4000 square ft.) and im usually at home by myself anyway. Didn't have brothers or sisters.

I see myself doing that after I graduate.. Save money first, but I think it's gotta be weird bringing home girlfriends and what not. I don't think I could take more than 2 years of living at home... actually I already don't like coming back for summers.

 

[SampSon]

Do you actually have to ask this question?
I'm not sure exactly when having a car took precedence over living on your own. Seems to be some disease afflicting this generation.

Move out and then build your life from there.

 

[KrillBee]

Originally posted by: JonnyStarks
Who cares about a car if you can walk or take public transit???

well a car can be useful for going to places that are not within the range of walking or public transit. a car can be of great use in facilitating a social life.
and with a car, you arent dependent on certain time periods for transportation.

not to say that the car is the better option, or necessary, but it definately has its plusses.

 

[jagec]

Beater - $1-2k for a decent one, if you're smart about it.
$100-150/yr maintenance
$1500/yr gas
~$800/yr insurance

=initial cost + ~$200/month

Housing:
varies widely, about $500-1000/month for an apartment or room here in Seattle, probably less in Minnesota.
$100-150/mo utilities
$150 or so for groceries

=$750-1300/month

The real question is...how much money do you make?

 

[Koing]

My car cost £600 and I've put 14k miles on i with no problems. I'm saving up to get a house but I had intended to drop a lot of money on an M3 but the insurance was CRAZY. Think £5.5k on my own or £3.3k with my parents then me on it. That kind of put a spanner to the M3 plan. Oh well next year I should have enough for a sizeable downpayment.

Koing

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Depends, its too hard for me to walk everywhere where I live and having a car opens a lot of doors. My own place would be nice, but whats so great about a place when u cant go out anywhere.

Bus works, but it doesnt work until 1-3am.

 

[Koing]

Get a cheap car. My car will run for years and now with my new job I'll hardly drive my car. Cycling FTW!

Koin

 

[KrillBee]

Originally posted by: jagec
Beater - $1-2k for a decent one, if you're smart about it.
$100-150/yr maintenance
$1500/yr gas
~$800/yr insurance

=initial cost + ~$200/month

Housing:
varies widely, about $500-1000/month for an apartment or room here in Seattle, probably less in Minnesota.
$100-150/mo utilities
$150 or so for groceries

=$750-1300/month

The real question is...how much money do you make?

With the car estimates, I would say maintenance would be a little more, plus you will need to buy a new car again eventually.

And with housing, some places are very cheap. And if you have roomates its even cheaper. My friend is living in a nice Condo down in Kansas, with 4 roomates, and they all have bedrooms to themselves. cost? $250 a month. (utilities not included)

While I agree housing is usually more than the cost of having a car, they are still 2 big costs in the category of living.

 

[Black88GTA]

Originally posted by: randomlinh
a couple hundred dollar car would probably only last so long... i couldn't imagine the cost of maintaining it being worth it. unless where you lived allowed you to work on your car, and you enjoy it.

in this senario, i would pick 1.

I had a car I bought off of a dealer trade-in lot for $200, with all fees included. I drove it for 4 years and 30k+ miles with hardly any work outside of normal maintenance required, other than a couple small things right when I got it. The transmission finally failed, and I sold it for parts for 2x what I had originally paid for it.

Yes, this is the exception and not the rule....my point is, it IS possible to find a relative gem if you look hard enough. Maybe find something that appeared to have been maintained well, but was lightly/moderately hit or something. A beat up POS is better than nothing at all. And get a factory service manual - or even a Haynes or Chilton's book - for those times when something does go wrong and repairs are needed. Many car repairs are much easier than people think.

I would do both - but I'd find a cheap place and compromise in other spending so that I could have a car as well.

 

[EyeMWing]

The car is crucial. It allows you to get away from home when you need to, and yet you can still go get free meals.

(seriously, rent is the least of your concerns for living on your own - food and utilities in most small cities, and in a decent number of mid-sized cities far outweigh that)

And if you car-shop intelligently, you can get a hell of a deal. If you can finance, a big dealership like Carmax will serve you well (you pay a slight premium, but all the homework on those cars is done, and you're practically guaranteed good condition)

If you can't, small dealerships are your best bet. They're a LOT shadier, walk away IMMEDIATELY if you find one thing that even looks a little bit questionable.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: KrillBee

Originally posted by: jagec
Beater - $1-2k for a decent one, if you're smart about it.
$100-150/yr maintenance
$1500/yr gas
~$800/yr insurance

=initial cost + ~$200/month

Housing:
varies widely, about $500-1000/month for an apartment or room here in Seattle, probably less in Minnesota.
$100-150/mo utilities
$150 or so for groceries

=$750-1300/month

The real question is...how much money do you make?

With the car estimates, I would say maintenance would be a little more, plus you will need to buy a new car again eventually.

And with housing, some places are very cheap. And if you have roomates its even cheaper. My friend is living in a nice Condo down in Kansas, with 4 roomates, and they all have bedrooms to themselves. cost? $250 a month. (utilities not included)

While I agree housing is usually more than the cost of having a car, they are still 2 big costs in the category of living.

Maintenance would be more...if you made a poor decision when you bought the car, or if you don't do your own. At least for the easy stuff.
Oil changes three times a year or so, tires every couple years, wipers every couple years, and the rest of it is measured over the lifetime of the car...timing belt two or three times, clutch once, alternator once or twice, battery a couple times, brake pads a couple times, hoses and belts once or twice, coolant three times or so, plugs/wires/cap/rotor five times...if you do your own work, it averages out to be pretty reasonable.

And you'll have to buy a different car eventually, but once again, a good car should last for years and years. IMHO if a good quality car doesn't hit the quarter-million mile mark, the owner didn't do a good job of taking care of it.

 

[Christobevii3]

Either way i wouldn't spend more than 20% of your income.